A Very StoryCorps Holiday

Actions

It’s that time of year where everything you read starts with the phrase “it’s that time of year”! Whether you or someone in your family is preparing to build a bespoke tofurkey, stuff a turducken, or narrowly escape setting the garage on fire with a poorly planned deep frying experiment – everywhere, everyone is getting ready to be scolded about having their phone out at the table.

If you have an incredible new camera powerhouse like the LG V20, a tried and true social media photo machine like the latest iOS release, or anything in between – you can actually use your phone for more than taking photos of the feast table this holiday season. For a novel take on ways to integrate your mobile device with the holiday season, we suggest you break from the tryptophan craziness of your IG feed and download the StoryCorps app.

So, what is StoryCorps?

For those of you not ritually podcasting your way through your commute (more on that in a blog to come), StoryCorps is a 13 year old nonprofit that does just what it sounds like – records stories. To preserve humanity’s legacy, build a bridge of connections between people across the globe, and “pass wisdom from one generation to the next”, StoryCorps has been recording folks in permanent recording stations and mobile units and archiving their interviews in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress for over a decade. Their app, which is a few years old now, allows you to record your very own StoryCorps interviews without making an appointment or traveling to one of these recording stations.

Select some interview questions! StoryCorps has some awesome suggestions handily listed by category, and also space where you can write your own. Once you’ve selected your questions, you can hit View my list and then Edit to rearrange the order.

Add your participant’s name.

Record! You can actually pause during recording, so don’t worry if you need to take a break.

When you’re done you can take a photo or upload a photo, add a summary of your discussion, tag it with keywords, and add a location. These steps are definitely helpful if you plan on…

Publishing your interview! If you don’t want this awesome conversation between yourself and your nearest & dearest (or perhaps your farthest flung-only-see-you-once-a-year) to be shared, don’t sweat it. You can also simply save the interview to your device.

We’d love to hear more about your holidays! Keep an eye on our upcoming holiday edition of the Community Showcase to let us know how it went! Hope you & yours have an awesome time!